Fox has cancelled many shows this past week and now Lethal Weapon is getting the axe after three seasons.
Lethal Weapon was the network’s TV reboot of the Mel Gibson-Danny Glover buddy-cop film franchise.
The show starred Damon Wayans (who played Det. Murtaugh, the role made famous by Danny Glover in the films) and he was joined by Seann William Scott, who played “a new character who folds into a partnership” with Wayans’ character after Clayne Crawford was fired from the show over unspecified allegations of abusive behaviour on the set in May 2018.
READ MORE: Damon Wayans announces he’s quitting ‘Lethal Weapon’ in surprise announcement
The series also starred Keesha Sharp, Kevin Rahm, Jordana Brewster, Johnathan Fernandez, Dante Brown, Chandler Kinney and Michelle Mitchenor.
Wayans announced he was quitting the show in October 2018 after finishing production on the series’ 13 episodes ordered for Season Three.
“I’m going to be quitting the show in December after we finish the initial 13,” Wayans said in an interview. “So I really don’t know what they’re planning, but that’s what I’m planning. I’m a 58-year-old diabetic and I’m working 16-hour days. It’s hard for me to play this loving, supportive father, husband, and friend on TV and be the guy in life who’s telling everybody, ‘I can’t, I’ve got to work.’”
WATCH BELOW: Damon Wayans announces departure from ‘Lethal Weapon’
“So you’re over it?” the off-camera interviewer asked Wayans.
“I’m done. Like Murtaugh said, I’m too old for this,” the 58-year-old actor said, referencing his character from the series.
When he was asked if he was just joking, Wayans shook his head and said, “No.”
READ MORE: Clayne Crawford breaks silence on being fired from ‘Lethal Weapon,’ and he’s not happy
Fox CEO Charlie Collier said the network had to make a “series of tough choices.”
“In the quest to be number 1, you have to make tough choices, and Lethal Weapon was unfortunately on the other side (of the bubble),” he said.
Many fans of Crawford took to Twitter to celebrate the show’s cancellation.
READ MORE: ‘Lethal Weapon’ star Damon Wayans posts video, photos accusing Clayne Crawford of on-set violence
After much backlash from Lethal Weapon fans upset over Crawford’s firing, it seemed like Wayans was trying to show his perspective on the matter.
He posted a graphic video from an incident on the Lethal Weapon set, during an episode being directed by Crawford. (Wayans has since deleted his Twitter account entirely; all the photos below are screengrabs of his account while active.)
WATCH BELOW: Seann William Scott to replace Clayne Crawford after ‘Lethal Weapon’ firing
In the video, which is no longer playable, Wayans is seen getting struck on the head by shrapnel.
A photo posted later shows Wayans with a bloody cut on the opposite side of his head, and he questions his on-set safety.
Wayans’ next tweet provided an explanation for his injury, and the actor seemed to implicate Crawford by tagging him and hashtagging “#noapology.”
Wayans continued to tweet accusations and photos. One photo shows a sticker affixed to a post on the Warner Bros. TV lot, reading, “Clayne Crawford is an emotional terrorist.”
Wayans also accused Crawford of seeking to make women cry and striking fear in cast and crew members.
READ MORE:‘Empire’ cancelled, Season 6 of the show will be its last
He called out a specific event when Crawford allegedly “hit another actor in the mouth with a bottle of green tea and busted his mouth open.”
Wayans ended his tweetstorm by saying Crawford has a “file of infractions” and used the hashtag “#releasethetapes,” further insinuating that Warner Bros. may have more evidence it’s not sharing with the public. Wayans said goodbye to Twitter and his account was deleted.
Prior to being fired, Crawford issued an apology and offered his side of the story, claiming he was reprimanded because he “reacted with anger to working conditions that did not feel safe,” and revealed he was forced to undergo “studio-appointed therapy.”
None of Wayans’ accusations have been proven in court and no criminal charges have been filed against Crawford.
READ MORE: Brothers in Jussie Smollett case file defamation suit against star’s legal team
If misery loves company, then the makers of Lethal Weapon are far from alone.
Fox, the lowest-rated network among the big four broadcasters, is hitting the reset button for the 2019-20 season by cancelling eight shows and adding 10 new ones.
Other series cancelled by Fox include the musical-drama Star, starring Jude Demorest and Queen Latifah, Kelsey Grammer’s Proven Innocent; comedy The Cool Kids, which starred veterans including David Alan Grier and Vicki Lawrence; The Gifted, set in Marvel’s X-Men universe; reality series Love Connection with host Andy Cohen; sci-fi drama The Passage, and sitcom Rel with Lil Rel Howery.
— With files from the Associated Press and Global News’ Chris Jancelewicz
Comments